Mali and Algeria affirm their desire to relaunch a peace agreement

Mali and Algeria affirmed Thursday in a press release their desire to relaunch the peace agreement signed in 2015 between the former Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali and the Malian government and today in bad shape, raising fears of a resumption of hostilities.

“We examined in a very precise, very rigorous way, the conditions to be met to achieve an effective and productive recovery through a political process which would be sheltered from economic turbulence”, declared Ahmed Attaf, head of diplomacy . Algerian, after a visit Wednesday to Bamako where he met the head of the junta, Colonel Assimi Goïta, according to this press release from the Malian presidency.

He also underlined a convergence of views around the methods, approaches and objectives of Bamako and Algiers .

In early April, the former Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali said there was "no way to build a common future" with Bamako. In December, Mali announced that it was suspending its participation in the implementation of the 2015 agreement signed in Algiers.

This peace agreement , which provides in particular for decentralization measures and the integration of ex-rebels into the national army, is only very little implemented.

"They must stop sinking into denial of reality, recognize that the situation is spiraling out of control ," Ag Mohamed Almou, a spokesman for the Coordination of movements of Azawad (CMA), one of the main signatory groups.

"The CMA will never be accountable or complicit in a selective implementation of the provisions of the agreement advocated by some and encouraged by the complicit silence of the mediation" , he added.

At the end of February, the Algerian president had received former Malian rebels who had discussed their expectations and priorities, and worked out ways to "break the impasse and the current status quo".

Unlike the Tuaregs, the jihadist groups have continued the fight against the Malian state, plunging the country into a deep security and political crisis.

Several jihadist attacks have hit Mali for a week, including one in Sévaré in the center of the country which officially killed at least ten civilians and three soldiers.

Senegalese skirmishers return home for good

Ending their lives peacefully: nine very old skirmishers, who fought for France, particularly in Indochina and Algeria, flew on Friday for a definitive return to Senegal, after a long battle with the French administration to have their "sacrifices" recognized. .

All elegant in impeccable costumes or traditional tunics, wearing their military medals with poise, these Senegalese skirmishers had left their 15 square meter studios at dawn in a home in Bondy, in the Paris region, where they had lived for years.

Some moving with great difficulty, their faces marked by the solemnity of the moment, others worrying about a passport left in a suitcase, they arrived at the airport in a bus chartered for the occasion.

In a special pavilion, they were able to wait for their flight in an atmosphere combining joy, meditation and hugs, in the presence in particular of the Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs and Memory Patricia Mirallès.

_"Long live our fathers!", "Long live France and Senegal!", We heard rocket during moving moments of group photos or exchanges with Mrs. Mirallès. " We will miss you! but the family is waiting for you there...", launched the Secretary of State, very moved.

These skirmishers fought for the French army mainly in the hell of Indochina and the Algerian war, and for some were deployed in Cameroon and Mauritania.

"I am very happy to return to Senegal and to continue to benefit from the rights that I had in France; for 25 or 20 years, it was hard for our relatives to commute, and for our age too..." , N'Dongo Dieng, 87, told AFP, wearing his military medals on a mustard tunic.

This happens "lately", because "many comrades died before benefiting from this measure...", lamented the veteran.

This return was made possible thanks to a derogatory measure decided by the French government, which allows them to live permanently in their country of origin, without losing their minimum old-age allowance of 950 euros per month. Exceptional assistance also finances their move, their return flight and their resettlement.

The Air Senegal flight took off from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport around 12:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. GMT) and is due to land in the afternoon in Dakar, where a welcome by Armed Forces Minister Sidiki is planned. Kaba. These skirmishers must also meet President Macky Sall on Friday, a source at the Senegalese presidency told AFP.

"Soulagement"

"I am extremely moved", confided to AFP before taking the plane Aïssata Seck, president of the Association for the memory and the history of the Senegalese skirmishers. Granddaughter of a skirmisher, she was the ankle worker who for ten years worked for their recognition, until Emmanuel Macron's decision at the beginning of 2023 to announce this exceptional measure for their allowance.

“ The fact that they can finally go home is a real relief and it is the culmination of a very long fight” so that they have “a dignified end of life”.  She believes that the French state "did the right thing".

For Claire Miot, lecturer in history at Sciences Po Aix, "it is an acknowledgment of their sacrifices in the service of France which is extremely late because they are men who are 90 years old, not to mention the soldiers engaged in the World War II who mostly died".

With a frank smile, Mr. Dieng confides that he now wishes to "live quietly in (his) native village". "And as I like animals, I will continue to develop my herd, in the midst of mine".

The French corps of "Senegalese Tirailleurs", created under the Second Empire (1852-1870) and dissolved in the 1960s, brought together soldiers from the former colonies of Africa. The term ended up designating all the soldiers from Africa who fought under the French flag.

After Friday's departures, there are still 28 skirmishers in France - all of Senegalese origin -, several of whom are likely to return soon.

According to historian Julien Fargettas, author of several works on the subject, there were more than 200,000 during the First World War, 150,000 for the Second, 60,000 in Indochina. Mr. Fargettas, who organized meetings between these skirmishers from Bondy and young people in France, underlines that "they are the representatives of an era, and the living memory of the skirmishers".

A volunteer in the French army by family tradition, Yoro Diao, 95, Legion of Honor in his buttonhole, wants to "rest" in Kaolack, in central Senegal.

"It's a very important day for us, and memorable!" He told AFP before boarding the plane. "Our children and grandchildren will always remember it, that grandpa came back from France very happy that day".

Tunisia appoints ambassador to Syria after 11 years of diplomatic rift

Tunisia formalized Thursday, April 27 the appointment of an ambassador to Syria after the decision of the two countries to fully restore their diplomatic relations. The new ambassador, diplomat Mohamed Mhadhbi, was presented with his credentials by President Kais Saied during a ceremony at Carthage Palace, the presidency said.

“ I swear by Almighty God to do everything in my power with sincerity and dedication to carry out the sacred national duty in the best possible way. I assume my responsibilities in the interests of Tunisia as Ambassador of the nation, in compliance with the country's constitution and laws, " said Mohamed Mhadhbi, the new Tunisian ambassador to Syria. 

In response to this initiative, the Syrian government has decided to reopen the Syrian embassy in Tunisia and to appoint an ambassador there soon. Tunis had expelled the Syrian ambassador in 2012 to protest against the bloody repression carried out by the Syrian authorities at the start of the war.